My Heart is a Stereo
by myhummelberryheart
Summary: Kurt finds a treasure trove of mix tapes at a flea market. Rachel wonders if he's lost his mind.


Rachel didn't know what Kurt was thinking when he brought home to their apartment an old tape deck from a flea market in Queens. She knew he liked a bargain, but really? Who used cassettes anymore? Maybe he was using it for decoration? She looked around the apartment. He had done a lot of "vintage" like that already.

But it got progressively worse a few evenings later when he brought back a huge box full of mix tapes. When Rachel gave him a look somewhere between confusion and you need to be put in a mental hospital, he explained.

"These are our musical history Rachel. Yes we have computer playlists, iPods full of songs, but these," He held up one in demonstration. "These were personal. People made them for each other because they felt the need to make them. They had emotions attached. Sure, I could give my friends MP3's, a CD, or a customized playlist, but it's not the same as taking the time and recording off a song physically. It's raw, it's unfinished, imperfect. Capturing a song off another cassette or even worse, the radio, was difficult."

The brown haired girl nodded, seeing his point. Kurt hummed to himself and put in the first tape. The familiar strains of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" made her smile, although the memory was harsh. Rachel thought she had been in love with Jesse, but that seemed so long ago now. She had been a sophomore in high school. Now she was junior at NYADA with her best friend by her side.

A best friend that was sitting on the floor, head bobbing to Cyndi Lauper. She laughed and pulled Kurt to his feet as they danced together in the middle of their small apartment. As he twirled her around, they both giggled and Rachel sat down and started pawing through the box.

"What are you going to do with all of these?"

A twinkle came in Kurt's eye. He shrugged. "Who knows?"

* * *

Two days later, an portable cassette player and a nice set of headphones appeared in Rachel's bag. She laughed when a mixed tape was randomly stuck to the side of her granola. It gave her a sense of excitement, of mystery. She had no earthly idea what was on that tape, much less who had recorded it, or who they might have recorded it for. Was it a lover? Was it a friend?

When Rachel had a break between her dance class and a meeting with her instructor on her portfolio, she pulled out the cassette tape and began to listen. She smiled at the halfway pulled off sticker, knowing age had lost the tapes true identity. She gasped when the beginning of "Power of Love" flooded her ears. She chuckled, listening to the full song. She worked on her resume outline, highlighting the large accomplishments she had made at NYADA. The Jewish girl bounced her foot to the music as a Jazz number she did not recognize played in her ears.

She made a mental note to start scouring the flea markets for more cassette tapes when she and Kurt went looking for pieces they needed for the apartment or themselves. Kurt was always looking out for that vintage fashion piece or accessory that would complement his outfit. Her favorite had always been the hippo or his cashmere purple scarf. He would drape it around her neck sometimes and it would smell like him. Something between wood smoke and vanilla, but she never could quite place her finger on it. Just another Hummel-ism she had gotten used to.

He was unique as they come and she loved him forever for it.

When she found another mix tape the next morning, this time in her shower kit, she started to wonder if this was turning into a little game for him. How to confuse the Rachel was usually something the old Kurt would try way back when they first meet. But the new Kurt seemed to be having fun, so she let him continue his little charade. It was cute, after all.

A few days later when the _Wicked_ soundtrack had played from her cassette player, Rachel got suspicious. Was he making these now?

* * *

Rachel came home to delicious smells in the kitchen the next night, very late. She found a simple vegetable lasagna with garlic bread warming in the oven. She grabbed a piece of the bread and chewed on it slowly as she put down her things, taking off her white beret.

She found Kurt asleep next to the tape deck in the living room, his sketch book laying beside him. The music had long stopped and she turned off the machine with a small click. Rachel smiled and removed the colored pencils laying on top. She picked up the sketch book, staring at the gorgeous and sleek military styled jacket done in white with rows of silver buttons that curved to the right and was layered over a puffed forest green and white skirt. The model had a faraway look in her eyes, and almost looked like Quinn.

They were always going to be his girls.

She smiled and laid it back down. Rachel kissed the top of his forehead and ruffled his hair. She could have sworn he growled in his asleep. Amused, Rachel finished off her dinner and sighed. She was almost too wired to sleep, and took the _Wicked_ tape out of the cassette player and laid it gently next to Kurt's hand with a "Thank You" sticky note attached. She took a tape out of the cardboard box beside the tape deck and headed to her desk to finish off a paper. She lost her train of thought for a little while as she wrote. Her ears were treated with the sounds of early 90's grunge till Rachel fell asleep on her arms.


End file.
